Public Sector Reform and Capacity Building e ) wtXONAL 8 January 2003 Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member govemments in the Africa Region It is published periodically by the WOR L D BAN K Knowledge and Leaming Center on behalf of the Region The views expressed in Findings are those of the author/s and should not be attributed to the World Bank Group Kn < @ thttp:/lwww.worldbank.org/afr/findings 0 0 IV A94D Helping Parliaments to Help the Poor 25279 T he global landscape has nearly all of whom will live in the changed dramatically as developing world, and most of international financial institu- them could well face a life of ex- tions have realized that domes- treme poverty. Projections are not tic oversight of governmental ac- bright: even if economic growth .: ~ wtions is crucial to fight against in the years to come is relatively W W poverty and that parliaments are brisk, the numbers of people liv- a key oversight institution. Offi- ing under the $1 and $2 a day cial development assistance over yardstick will not improve in m the past twenty-five years has parts of the developing world- made a difference. Millions of and in sub-Saharan Africa they * people were lifted out of poverty. will actually continue to rise. Millions of children in poor coun- tries were vaccinated against New poverty priorities preventable diseases that could This deterioration in poverty and have killed them; school enrol- i c ~~~~~~~mnsicesd; lif exetac inequality conditions, coupled rnents icreased; life expectancy with the growing recognition to increased around the world-by ., relieve the pressures caused by 24 years in Africa. But today the debt burdens in many develop- world faces even greater chal- ing countries, prompted a Sep- lenges than it did 25 years ago. tember 1999 decision by the _ The world population has kept World Bank and the IMF to make growingd straining both national poverty reduction central in a re- w ~~~~~~and international development fre rmwr o formed framework for efforts. concessional lending and debt U Over the next 25 years, the in- relief. cidence of poverty is likely to ex- This new approach, "Poverty plode. In another 25 years, there Reduction Strategy Papers - U will be an additional two billion (PRSPs), emphasizes poverty re- people inhabiting the world, _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~duction as a development goal. The PRSP policy process are through the Strengthening parliaments budget cycle - with parliament As in governance generally, par- Poverty Poverty Policy Budget Cycle reviewing and liaments do have an important &Analysis m eciy Processh approving gov- role to play in the PRSP process. na s DecisionPRSPChanges apoeinient spend- They oversee development and eingon poverty implementation of strategies; reduction ini- ensure the integrity of the par- Monitoring and CplcY a t at iv es-and ticipation process, particularly Evlainof Implementation and taie-n OLtcomesilmpacts ServieDelivery through the for the poor; advance the budget monitoring and cycle process. Their role also in- evaluation of volves the monitoring and evalu- outcomes and ation stage, given the need for It also assures that policies to impact. This is the 'normal" over- scrutiny independent of the ex- achieve the goal are country- sight and legislation link between ecutive to assess results. driven/owned; establishes full Parliament and government. Such tasks, though, necessi- participation in decisions and The involvement of parliaments tate improved institutional ca- implementation, including by could be even more pervasive, pacities within most parliaments the poor themselves and by civil however, given that, in many in developing countries, where society groups; stresses efforts countries, parliaments have be- basic infrastructure is often aimed at specific results, over a come key pressures for gover- missing. Steps are needed to give longer term timeframe, with nance reform, aiming to see that parliaments the ability to sustain careful monitoring; and commits governments work more effec- their interventions, bring signifi- increased financial resources tively, efficiently and openly. cant independent expertise to from donor sources for this. How this was done depended on bear, and exercise effective lever- As of the beginning of 2002, circumstances and opportunities age in their oversight activities. some 70 countries were involved to achieve positive change. Certain measures can be taken in the PRSP process-in many at the national level of parlia- cases as part of the path toward The challenge for parliaments ment itself, such as the formation debt relief and in others in the of an institutional planning ca- context of negotiations for The challenge is for Parliaments pacity to shape improvements; concessional lending support to use their oversight responsi- changes in internal rules to per- from the Bank and Fund. bilities-influence on budget mit tougher and more direct matters and legislative leverage scrutiny of key executive lead- Parliaments and the PRSP process to see that the needs of their poor ers; the establishment of special- *are heard and met-and to insist ized committees, for example, on One of the key features of the on serious follow-up of the com- poverty reduction; the strength- PRSP process is that, while gov- mitments made to reduce poverty ening of existing committees- ernment led, there should be via PRSP specifics. In addition, particularly in the case of com- broad consultations within MPs can take steps in their own mittees dealing with the budget countries and wide participation constituencies to pursue poverty cycle process, and with key ar- by civil society, to ensure "coun- reduction in a significant way. eas of service delivery relevant to try ownership." The obvious 'en- the poor (such as education, try points" for the involvement of health, roads and rural develop- parliaments in the PRSP process ment); the establishment of well- Full use of international link- ages via the Internet and other Parliamentary Initiatives for Governance Reform communication methods need to be stressed. Parliaments are in- Participation in South Africa: Parliaments have been very concerned to increase participation by poorer people, many of whom lack writing and language skills to creasingly developing access to approach formal government institutions. Legislatures have established an "Of- more sophisticated information fice for Public Participation," to work at outreach to those with grievances and complaints who feel unable to access Parliaments directly. Their concerns are technology links, and these taken to ministries or agencies involved and, if they cannot be resolved, are make access possible to special- directed to a committee of the legislature. Political parties there are also ensur- ized websites-and also provide ing that Parliament itself is better balanced in gender and socio-economic back- ground through candidate selection procedures. a basis for helpful networks at low Anti-corruption in Kenya: Grand corruption has been reported as a growing cost on a global basis. Uganda, problem, which is distorting financial allocations and undercutting the provision for instance, has developed a very of public services in the country. Recently, Parliament took leadership against these injustices by having a Select Committee on Corruption established, chaired active program to have its MPs by a young activist MP. This committee held hearings across the country, docu- fully capable of using the mented extensive cases of corrupt practice, and named those who should be targets of action for their lack of integrity. This initiative, while it has not resolved internet-not only to build in- Kenya's corruption, has led to the establishment of a major new impetus to set temational and regional linkage up an effective anti-corruption agency and to make honest allocation of resources possibilities, but because there a priority on the political agenda. Transparency in Nigeria: Nigeria also has a serious problem of corruption, as are important gains to be well as distortion in the allocation of public resources and a lack of transparency. achieved in terms of national As a result, poverty levels have risen from 45 percent of the population in 1985 to communication links from con- 66 percent in 1999, despite huge past oil revenues and considerable continuing resource income inflows. One of the problems was that the national oil company stituencies to the capital. had provided no public accounting for 12 years! The election of President Obasanjo and a democratic National Assembly in 1999 began to change that-with finan- Conclusion cial accounts becoming subject to scrutiny and careful review by both the Na- tional Assembly and the Government. Parliaments face many con- straints in working to reduce a more general sense. This is es- pvrty-froraing gp to paid research capabilities to pecially true with respect to the infrastructure weaknesses. But serve all parties in parliament; anti-corruption aspects of parlia- there are also capacity-building and' the encouragement of com- mentary activity, where, in many teps at aliamets-cnilan, mittees, party caucuses, and par- countries, parliaments them- and tinc r linternana liament itself to work more ac- selves need to "put their own . . i tively on outreach to the poor. house in order", e.g. by establish- support is available to finance Of all these areas, perhaps the ing codes of conduct for MPs, to take the lead themselves to strengthening of parliamentary make campaign financing trans- assert parliament's key impor- committee capacity seems to of- parent, honest and constrained tance in poverty reduction. fer the most promise, but signifi- and broaden the diversity repre- cant improvements in perfor- sentation (by socio-economic mance which committees work group, ethnic group and gender). to achieve are often necessary to A part of these strengthening This article was written by have such an impact. strategies are expanded network- Prdeic c. tap ent Senior These initiatives are in turn re- ing ties. These can be important P ic SetorlManagemente inforced by moves to improve the both regionally and internation- ist wtteWrld an Inveltpten general credibility, access to in- ally (visit, www.worldbank.org/ Itr ea red in D o pment formation and widened linkages pnowb). O c l N S of parliament to civil society, in 2002. Jeannette Marie Smith 86540 1 MC C3-301 Finctings Findings can be accessed via the World Bank Group's website at http://www.worldbank.org/ Click on Publications, then Periodicals. Or, ]iZ¶dings wouild also be of inte1r@et to: click on Countries and Regions, then Africa Address Letters, comments, and requests for publications not available at the World Bank Bookstore should be addressed to: Editor, Findings Operational Quality and Knowledge Services Africa Region, The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Room J-5-055 Washington, D.C. 20433 e-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org